A technicality gets Real Madrid past their fierce rivals.

Real Madrid have been announced as the highest earning football club in the world beating Barcelona and Manchester United

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Though three consecutive draws may sound like a slump for a club of Real Madrid's stature, everything is not gloomy for the European champions as the club revealed their financial figures for the 2015-16 season which make Real, the highest earning football club in the world. Though Barcelona's revenue was higher than that of Real Madrid, the Los Blancos’ figures are more convincing because of excluding player sales figures from the revenue giving them an edge over their bitter rivals early in the season.

Real Madrid posted record revenues for the 2015-16 season around €620 million with earnings rising to 7.4% compared to the previous season. These figures put them at the top of the table of highest earning clubs with closest rivals Barcelona earning €679 million in the same time period, though the Catalans have included €70 million of player sales in the revenue released which Madrid have not, giving Real the edge over the Catalans.

Profit from the sale of players is excluded by most clubs and by Forbes and Deloitte when calculating turnover although the surplus does find a way in a club's revenue figures. Real Madrid paid off €96m of debt, even if their overall profit decreased by a margin of 22.5 per cent from €55.9m to €43.3m. Real's net debt position improved because of the cash reserves rising from €115 million to €238 million.

Real Madrid issued a club statement after posting the financial figures which read, “Operating revenues for the financial year 2015-16, without taking into account capital gains obtained as a result of player transfers, have topped €600million for the first time. As a result of the increase in liquid assets and the reduction of creditor balances by investments, the net debt has fallen by €108.9m to sit at a figure of €-13.1m, which in reality represents not a debt but rather a net liquidity position.”

Closely following these two superpowers of football on the financial front are Manchester United who announced a revenue of €570 million for the 2015-16 year which places them third on the highest earning clubs in the world. The Red Devils are expected to cross the €600 million barrier next season owing to the surging TV rights deal.